Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 60, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 14, 1997, 6:22 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 88 min. 10 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 14, 1997, 6:22 PM MST (01:22 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 14, 1997, 7:50 PM MST
- In force
- 88 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County Maricopa County, AZ
The radar
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:25 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 6:35 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Buckeye, AZ | |
| Aug 14, 6:35 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Phoenix, AZ | Several power lines blown down in northwest Phoenix. |
| Aug 14, 6:35 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Mesa, AZ | Several large trees down in east Mesa. |
| Aug 14, 6:43 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | New River, AZ | Power lines blown down. |
| Aug 14, 6:45 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Tempe, AZ | Power lines blown down. |
| Aug 14, 6:55 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 51 | Luke Afb, AZ | |
| Aug 14, 6:56 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Gilbert, AZ | Winds blew down several large trees which subsequently knocked down power lines. |
| Aug 14, 7:05 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Mesa, AZ | Portion of a roof blew off a house in east Mesa. |
| Aug 14, 7:15 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Tempe, AZ | Several more power lines blown down in Tempe. |
| Aug 14, 7:40 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Mesa, AZ | Large two-foot diameter tree uprooted at the intersection of Longmore Road and Southern Avenue. |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 198 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 435 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -25 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2878 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 7 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 13 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
510 WUUS1 KPHX 150123 RRA SVRPHX AZC013-150250- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 622 PM MST THU AUG 14 1997 * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA * UNTIL 750 PM MST * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED PHOENIX NEW RIVER SUN CITY GLENDALE SCOTTSDALE MESA GILBERT CHANDLER TEMPE GOODYEAR * AT 620 PM MST RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN THE GREATER PHOENIX METRO AREA. STRONG DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM ALONG WITH BLOWING DUST CAUSING NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY... BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 14, 2:47 PM MST, 3 hours 35 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-150130- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 245 PM MST/PDT THU AUG 14 1997 ...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THE AIR MASS OVER MUCH OF SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA WAS SOMEWHAT DRIER AND MORE STABLE TODAY. AS A RESULT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS HOWEVER ARE FORECAST OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF EASTERN MARICOPA COUNTY AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY THROUGH EARLY EVENING. THIS INCLUDES THE SALT RIVER RECREATIONAL LAKES AND LAKE ROOSEVELT. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 50 MPH...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...AND SMALL HAIL. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK OF A THUNDERSTORM OR DUSTSTORM IN THE FAR EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE GREATER PHOENIX METRO AREA EARLY THIS EVENING. .................................................................... THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN ARIZONA IN CALIFORNIA MARICOPA YUMA IMPERIAL NORTHWEST PINAL LA PAZ CENTRAL AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE SOUTHERN GILA
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 7:18 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Pinal | 87 min |
| Aug 14, 7:44 PM MST | Tornado Warning | PSR | Maricopa, Pinal | 61 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.